Competition

  • March 22, 2024

    Home Sellers Hope $58M Compass Deal Helps Spur Others

    Compass Inc. announced Friday that it would pay home sellers $57.5 million in the first settlement since the National Association of Realtors reached its own deal this month to pay $418 million and overhaul rules that have effectively restricted how brokers buy and sell homes and how they're paid.

  • March 22, 2024

    US Antitrust Enforcers Keep Big Tech Cases Coming

    A backlash against powerful tech companies is reaching a fever pitch in the U.S., as enforcers with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission now have pending lawsuits accusing Apple, Amazon, Google and Meta of monopolizing key digital markets.

  • March 22, 2024

    Off The Bench: Ohtani Lawyers Up, UFC Settles, ACC Clash

    MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani enlists a Hollywood boutique to advise him amid a still-unfolding sports betting scandal, UFC forks over $335 million to settle a wage class action and Clemson's bid to join a new conference spills into court. Catch up with the sports and betting stories that had Law360's readers talking with this week's Off The Bench.

  • March 22, 2024

    Commerce Lifts Block On Transnational Subsidy Probes

    The U.S. Department of Commerce erased a nearly 40-year-old regulation on Friday so it can impose countervailing duties on subsidies China provides its trade partners, despite opposition from foreign governments that the move would conflict with World Trade Organization obligations.

  • March 22, 2024

    US Greenlights Novartis' $2.9B MorphoSys Takeover

    Germany's MorphoSys AG said Friday it has received U.S. antitrust clearance for the biopharmaceutical company's planned $2.9 billion sale to Swiss Pharma giant Novartis AG, a development that clears the final regulatory hurdle needed before closing the deal. 

  • March 22, 2024

    UK Says £16.5B Vodafone-Three Deal May Hurt Consumers

    Britain's antitrust authority said Friday that plans by Vodafone and Three to merge their U.K. telecommunications networks to create a £16.5 billion ($20.8 billion) mobile operator could lead to higher prices for consumers.

  • March 21, 2024

    Burford, Sysco Get OK To Swap Bid In Price-Fixing Cases

    An Illinois federal judge on Thursday agreed to allow an affiliate of legal investment firm Burford Capital to substitute for food giant Sysco in price-fixing litigation against broiler chicken producers, a ruling that comes a month after a Minnesota federal judge refused to allow the same Burford unit to substitute for Sysco in similar pork and beef price-fixing litigation.

  • March 21, 2024

    Nexstar Ducks Antitrust Suit Over Retransmission Fees

    DirecTV says it refused to ink retransmission deals with two companies that were illegally collaborating with Nexstar Media Group Inc. to fix prices, resulting in massive channel blackouts and customer loss, but according to a New York federal judge, that refusal is why its antitrust claims fall flat.

  • March 21, 2024

    Colo. Distributor Seeks $2.3M Sanction For Stryker Spoilation

    A Colorado medical device distributor urged a federal judge to make Stryker and its lawyers pay $2.3 million in attorney fees as sanctions for "pervasive misconduct" throughout discovery and trial, arguing discovery violations will otherwise become the "cost of doing business" for the medical technology giant.

  • March 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Partially Backs Meta Class Cert. In Ad Reach Row

    A split Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday affirmed certification of a damages class of Meta Platforms advertisers who were allegedly deceived about Facebook's "potential reach" tool, but upended certification of an injunction class, telling the district court to take a fresh look at whether the lead plaintiff actually has standing.

  • March 21, 2024

    LinkedIn Must Face Monopoly Lawsuit

    A California federal judge refused Thursday to toss a proposed antitrust class action accusing LinkedIn of using online interface access to pay off would-be rivals, even as he signaled potential trouble ahead once the factual details of those access agreements come into play.

  • March 21, 2024

    4 Things To Know About DOJ's Apple Antitrust Showdown

    As Apple prepares to fight state and federal prosecutors' monopoly claims filed Thursday, consumer advocates say it's high time allegations that the company stifles competition in the smartphone and app markets be taken to court, but Apple warns that a win for the government would harm its users.

  • March 21, 2024

    Microsoft, Meta, Others Say Apple Violating Court Order

    Major developers including Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Spotify have told a California federal court that Apple is not complying with an order secured by Epic Games barring Apple's use of anti-steering rules in the App Store.

  • March 21, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Apple App Store Rival's Antitrust Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel has refused to rehear a rival app store developer's bid to revive an antitrust suit alleging that Apple monopolizes the market for app distribution on iOS devices with its App store.

  • March 21, 2024

    Avoid Major Extension Of Merger Reach, EU High Court Urged

    An important tool for extending European Union antitrust officials' merger scrutiny appears to be in jeopardy after a European Court of Justice advocate general effectively recommended Thursday that the bloc's high court restrict the ability to investigate transactions that don't normally trigger EU thresholds.

  • March 21, 2024

    FTC Says Retailers Used Pandemic To Boost Profits, Power

    The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that some grocery retailers appear to have used their market power to avoid supply disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic and that grocery prices remain high because companies used rising costs as an opportunity to boost profits.

  • March 21, 2024

    Mike Ashley Sues Soccer Club Over Kit Amid Staveley Fight

    Newcastle United soccer club has been sued by its former owner, Mike Ashley, on allegations it restricted competition by refusing to provide his retail company with its newest replica soccer kits, Britain's antitrust tribunal said Thursday.

  • March 21, 2024

    Barings' Exec Helped Raid Employees To Join Rival, Suit Says

    A former executive of the investment firm Barings LLC is accused of joining a rival firm who together conspired to hire away 21 Barings employees and then offered to buy the decimated Barings unit for "on the dollar" in "one of the largest corporate raids at an asset manager in years," a suit alleges.

  • March 21, 2024

    CFPB Head Sees Flaws In Capital One-Discover Deal Rationale

    The head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pushed back on Thursday against the notion that an industry's biggest firms must be put in check through mergers between other large players in that sector, offering an indirect rebuttal to the reasoning floated by Capital One in its bid to buy Discover Financial for $35.3 billion.

  • March 21, 2024

    Faegre Drinker Hires Indianapolis Litigation Boutique Founder

    Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has hired a founding partner of Indianapolis litigation boutique Hoover Hull Turner LLP, who joins the firm as a partner to continue her practice centered on business litigation matters, the firm recently announced.

  • March 21, 2024

    DOJ Sues Apple, Rounds Out US Claims Against Tech Big 4

    The U.S. Department of Justice and several state attorneys general on Thursday launched an antitrust suit against Apple, accusing the world's dominant smartphone maker of maintaining an anti-competitive monopoly over its iron grip over the iPhone, rounding out the quartet of long-anticipated government antitrust litigation already proceeding against Google, Meta and Amazon.

  • March 21, 2024

    FDIC To Target Deals Creating Cos. With $100B-Plus In Assets

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday approved a policy proposal that floats new ways the agency would assess the "financial stability" of proposed mergers between insured depository institutions, for the first time identifying $100 billion in assets as the threshold for deals that would get "added scrutiny."

  • March 20, 2024

    Gas Buyers Want Judge Recused From Shale Cartel Suits

    A would-be class of gasoline buyers pursuing antitrust claims against a string of shale oil producers told a Nevada federal judge on Tuesday that her admitted ownership of stock in Exxon Mobil Corp. required her to recuse herself from presiding over the litigation.

  • March 20, 2024

    UFC To Pay Fighters $335M To Settle Wage Suppression Suit

    The parent company of UFC revealed Wednesday that it will pay $335 million to settle a class action alleging fighters' wages were suppressed by up to $1.6 billion, a move that comes after the two sides entered mediation last month ahead of a now-vacated trial.

  • March 20, 2024

    UK Gov't Launches Plan To Reverse Litigation-Funding Fallout

    The government has published a two-clause bill designed to overturn a ruling by Britain's Supreme Court that threatened the status of many litigation-funding agreements, ending most of the speculation about how the effects of the decision will be nullified.

Expert Analysis

  • How 'Purely Legal' Issues Ruling Applies To Rule 12 Motions

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Dupree v. Younger holding that purely legal issues resolved on summary judgment need not be reraised in post-trial motions guides litigators on when to preserve certain arguments for appeal, but raises the question of how Rule 12(b) and (c) motion denials will be affected, say Blaine Evanson and Jeremy Christiansen at Gibson Dunn.

  • Pros And Cons Of Top-Four Network Rule In The Digital Age

    Author Photo

    In the era of streaming, broadcasters have recently urged the Federal Communications Commission to remove the top-four network rule — which prohibits common ownership of any two major network stations — in some or all markets, but others argue the rule preserves competition and diversity, say Gregg Skall and Ashley Brydone-Jack at Telecommunications Law Professionals.

  • To Hire And Keep Top Talent, Think Beyond Compensation

    Author Photo

    Firms seeking to appeal to sophisticated clients and top-level partners should promote mentorship, ensure that attorneys from diverse backgrounds feel valued, and clarify policies about at-home work, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • How Merger Review Overhaul Could Affect Health Industry

    Author Photo

    For those in the health care industry considering growth and expansion strategies, the antitrust agencies' recent proposals for new Hart-Scott-Rodino rules and more complex merger guidelines will increase deal timelines, the merging parties' burden, and overall uncertainty and potential antitrust risk as to the outcome, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • A Closer Look At China's Landmark Pharma Antitrust Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Supreme People's Court's recent decision in Yangtze River Pharma v. HIPI Pharma — the first antitrust litigation in China's active pharmaceutical ingredient sector — indicates a balanced regulatory approach between competition concerns and intellectual property rights protection, say analysts at The Brattle Group.

  • Perspectives

    More States Should Join Effort To Close Legal Services Gap

    Author Photo

    Colorado is the most recent state to allow other types of legal providers, not just attorneys, to offer specific services in certain circumstances — and more states should rethink the century-old assumptions that shape our current regulatory rules, say Natalie Anne Knowlton and Janet Drobinske at the University of Denver.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

    Author Photo

    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Steps To Take On AI Operations Amid FTC's ChatGPT Probe

    Author Photo

    Following the Federal Trade Commission's civil investigative demand for OpenAI, it is foreseeable that many more investigations into artificial intelligence and its impact on consumers are coming, but companies can be prepared, say David Shonka and Benjamin Redgrave at Redgrave.

  • More UK Collective Actions On The Horizon After Forex Ruling

    Author Photo

    A U.K. appeals court's recent decision in Forex case Evans v. Barclays is likely to significantly widen the scope of opt-out collective proceedings that can be brought, paving the way for more class actions by prospective claimants who have previously been unable to bring individual claims, say Robin Henry and Tamara Davis at Collyer Bristow.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

    Author Photo

    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

    Author Photo

    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Opinion

    'US Cyber Trust Mark' Program Threatens Privacy, Innovation

    Author Photo

    The Federal Communications Commission's recently announced plan to create a "U.S. Cyber Trust Mark,” which would voluntarily affix to smart devices to boost consumer confidence and industry security standards, could lead to an erosion of consumer privacy, competition, innovation, and any firewall between the government and the individual, says attorney Donna Etemadi.

  • Opinion

    Has The NCAA Not Learned NIL Policy Lessons Of The Past?

    Author Photo

    The NCAA has applied its heavy hand — which has been slapped back by courts and legislatures — again, saying that colleges must comply with its name, image and likeness policies even if they conflict with state laws, but recent antitrust decisions might caution against its reasoning, says Kenneth Jacobsen at Temple University.

  • Opinion

    3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point

    Author Photo

    The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Competition archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!